Terminus
by UTsSmutQueen
Summary: Finally - the 3rd and final story in my SixSix/Dissonance trilogy. Things are going well. A little too well. The problem with being at the top is that somebody is always going to challenge you for your title. A/U, features returning characters as well as new faces. I can't promise a happy ending but I do promise an eventual end! Features Vi(OC), Taker, Kane, Austin, others.
1. Chapter 1

Terminus

A/N: I tried to warn people. But here it is. The third and final story in my SixSix/Dissonance trilogy. You don't have to have read the other 2 to read this, but I promise stuff in this will make a lot more sense if you do. This is going to be another big story, and it's going to take some time to get it all out, so just bear with me. As always, since I've been writing stuff in this particular universe of mine for something like 18 years (holy crap) I'm pretty well versed on my own mythology. So enjoy. And I'll update as often as I can.

1-

He stretched, touching nothing in the darkness but the smooth silk sheets. The girl he had brought to the room had satisfied him – for a time. In the end, he grew bored with her just as he grew bored of everything else. He had not played with this one, not the way he played with the others. It was nearly time to depart this town, and he wanted to save his energy for the big finale. His going away gift, so to speak. The thought brought a slow smile to his face.

That would come soon enough. The noose around his neck was not quite tight enough. Not yet. And while the girl tonight would have been a good distraction, he was not quite ready to put the final bow on his gift.

He turned on his side and propped himself up on an elbow, reaching for the cigarettes he kept on the nightstand. He squinted against the flash of light as the tip flared, momentarily burning away the darkness. Empty faces looked back at him, eyes seeing nothing. The girl had remarked on the darkness of the room, but had been completely unaware of the audience around them. Lucky for him, the smell was never a factor. And it was not as if they could announce their presence. They remained dead quiet.

He snorted at his own joke and blew out a stream of smoke. Motels were dangerous, but in a fun way. All it would take was one maid determined to get into the room no matter what the sign on the door said. It had happened before. Of course she had thought the room empty for the day, and had fully intended to rob him. Unfortunately for her, it just happened to be a day when he felt no urge to satisfy. That was, until she had opened the door. Instead of turning on the overhead light, the crafty maid had switched on a penlight in deference to the blackout curtains that kept the sunlight out of the room.

It only took a few seconds after the door closed behind her for the penlight to fall on the first of the bodies. Sitting in a chair in the corner, eyes wide and empty, mouth caught in a scream. Sometimes they could pass for peacefully sleeping, which irked him to no end. He manipulated them sometimes and tried to recreate the image that he wanted, but it always looked too staged. The special ones always died with agony and fear etched on their features. He made sure of it.

The maid had gasped in a horrified breath and he knew, in the instant, she would be one of the special ones. She was not his usual type – much older, shorter, and rounder. But the call of that particular trait...he could not resist. He had silently stepped behind her while her mind tried to make sense of what she was seeing. She sucked in a breath, to scream he had no doubt, but he stopped that with an expert thrust of his double edged knife. Not a killing blow – there was no fun in that – but enough to sever her vocal chords and take the fight right out of her.

He marveled at the technique. He should have been a surgeon, given how precise he was when it came to his knife. The would-be scream turned into a surprised gurgle. The rest was a wet blur. She had forced him to finish his trip sooner than intended, because the one sure way to get caught was to shit where you eat, to be crude. He still had a good two to three weeks in that particular town, but once he'd finished with the maid he had packed his bags and headed for the hills. But not before arranging his trophies and opening up the curtains on the ground floor room. He had glanced in on his way to the car, smiling at the image framed in the glass. Like a department store display from hell. Humans were fragile. He had spent years proving it again and again.

He finished the cigarette and sat up, stretching his arms slowly overhead. The sensation around his neck was faint but there. He called it the noose as another of his personal jokes. It was more likely a combination of intuition and instinct that manifested as a psychosomatic tingling of the sensitive skin of his neck. Although instead of just raising the hairs on the back, the sensation formed a complete circle. The locals had been very slow this time around. His dark room was a testament to that. The day would come soon when he would let in the sun and walk away, letting his imagination fill in the afterward.

He would disappear. Move on to the next small town. Following his intuition. Doing his homework. There was always another small, isolated town with authorities who were just a hair above incompetent. Or no authority at all. In some places the nearest piece of meat with a badge could be a county or two away. He avoided big cities. The targets were more plentiful but so were the police, the nosy neighbors, and the people who would try to disrupt him.

No. Small towns were the ticket. He cast a wide net at first, finding targets from other nearby towns, slowly centering on his location. Leaving behind no clue. Watching local police spin their wheels had some entertainment value after all.

They were at that stage now. He had seen them – three local slices of bacon, driving themselves crazy as they worked around the clock seeking any answers they could find. It had reached the point where neighbors were whispering about neighbors in an endless game of rumors. Skeletons were being pulled forcefully out of closets. Houses were being systematically searched based on pure speculation. Not one of them thought to seek help from a higher authority. If the feds were to show up, it would definitely be game over. He was sure that by now, his exploits had to be on some kind of crime watch list, but he had yet to hear anything about it. He had seen newspaper articles and a few local stories about his exploits but for the carnage he presented, the coverage stayed low-key. Another perk? Perhaps. He was not going to question it too deeply.

He rose from the bed and walked into the bathroom. The shower and toilet were the only spaces not taken up by corpses and he kept it that way for convenience. That would change soon enough. He turned the water to hot and waited until the room was enveloped in steam before stepping under the spray. He knew from experience that the water was hot enough to blister skin, had in fact tested it out on target number two. The red skin and blisters had faded to pale white in death, but were still a testament to the power of a good water heater. He scrubbed, not affected by the heat. He felt very little when it came to pain. Pleasure on the other hand was another story.

He could have normal sexual relationships and the feeling would be overwhelming. Throw in some creative knife-work, blood, and a thrashing female and he could reach highs no human could ever experience. But he shrugged off damage, easily blocking out the rare cuts when the knife would slip, the pain of the overheated water of the shower, the sting of a bullet when one of his targets had surprised him by hiding the smallest, most ridiculous looking gun he had ever seen in the waistband of her jeans. That one had been fun. He still still the gun as a reminder that he had let his guard slip. He liked to look at it, to hold it in the palm of his hand. He could feel the girl when he held the gun. And though he did not usually take trophies, he knew the gun would be going with him when he left. It was useless as a weapon, the girl had been duped out of money. The gun probably would not have stopped a fly. But something about it connected him to the girl and brought back the sensations.

Although he had spent the better part of the evening in bed with a limber girl who did everything to him but make him breakfast, he was going to go out that night. He had some hunting to do. Along with the noose came another sensation; the feeling of a headache forming in the space between his eyes. It meant someone suitable would be near him. This close to the end, he could not afford to miss an opportunity. He started to whistle as he shut the shower off. Hunting always put him in a good mood.

Drew sat up in bed, heart thudding in his ears, mouth dry. He'd been having one hell of a nightmare. But it was already fading. Something about dead people. He kicked off his blanket and sat on the edge of the bed, head in his hands.

This was the third night in a row, and it was the same thing every time. Weird, horrible dreams. And then waking up and not knowing where he was for a solid few minutes.

It wasn't just being in a different house. Although he supposed that might have something to do with it. Drew had lived in their old house since the day he was born. Switching had been interesting but not really a huge deal. Once Mark and Vi had decided to get married, and they'd merged their families, they had all seemed to click together.

Vi had not been willing to give up her house though. Mark and Drew were less attached to theirs. It had simply been a matter of remodeling to make room for their bigger family.

It had taken a few months to get it done, but Drew thought that was more than plenty of time to acclimate to his new home. Vi and Mark had redone the bedroom downstairs that had once belonged to Ray. They'd made it bigger, with a larger bathroom and walk-in closet. Vi's old bedroom had undergone installation of carpet and painting, and Josie had moved in. Drew had grumbled goodnaturedly about the arrangement that that Josie had gotten the attached bathroom.

So they had refitted the room that had once been Josie's. Mark had knocked out a wall and had taken up a bit of Glen's old room and the end of the hall to give Drew his own bathroom. By the time they were finished, upstairs had been completely renovated. Even Glen's room had been redone, although it was still just a guest room. Glen himself had moved into Mark's house. He still worked around the ranch, but wanted to give them space. Plus he was still adjusting to all of his found memories. He needed time.

Drew sat there until his eyes adjusted to the darkness. According to his clock, it was just past four in the morning. Too early to get up, too late to go back to sleep. He knew he was up for the day. And a school day. Although when he got up to look out the window, he could see a healthy six inches of fresh snow had fallen while he'd been sleeping. Maybe he'd get a break and they'd call off school and he could take a nap later.

He looked back at the bed with real regret before heading for the door. Drew wanted to go downstairs and get a drink. He could come back up and kill some time playing a game or reading. It was how he usually finished off a night of bad dreams.

Drew got a bottle of water out of the fridge and took a healthy swig of it before sitting at the table and looking out the window again. It was still snowing a little bit. It looked very peaceful. He thought they all deserved a little peace after the past year they'd shared. He worried that his dreams meant it wasn't in the cards. Something was coming. Too bad he didn't know how or when.

"Hey." Even though Vi's voice was low, Drew still jumped when she spoke from the doorway behind him. "Something wrong?"

"Can't sleep. Did I wake you up?" He turned and watched as she yawned her way to the fridge.

"Nope. It's five-thirty. Alarm clock woke me up."

Drew raised an eyebrow at that. He'd been sitting at the table, staring out the window, for the better part of an hour. Maybe he'd been sleeping sitting up. That would be something new.

"You want some breakfast?" Vi asked, peering into the fridge. When he didn't answer, she turned and looked at him, a slight frown of concern on her face. "Are you all right? You aren't getting sick are you?"

Drew hesitated and shrugged. "I'm fine. Just didn't sleep so great." He stopped himself there. Because he liked Vi and understood that they were connected now, not just because she was married to his dad but because they were all bonded together somehow. He didn't understand it and didn't know who he could ask to find out how it had happened.

He wanted to tell her about the dreams but he couldn't remember them. Even now when he thought about it, all he came up with was someone was dead. That was it. He couldn't even conjure up why they were dead. Or how. And it wasn't someone he knew, because he was sure that would have haunted him when he was awake. Vi had proven to be way easier to talk to than his dad. Drew sometimes didn't know how to approach Mark about certain things because he was so hard to read. Vi had been impossible to read, but she tended to wear her emotions on her sleeve anyway.

This time he kept it to himself though. He didn't know if it was even worth talking about. Sometimes a dream was just a dream, and it didn't have to mean anything at all. Drew wished he could make himself believe that.

"You sure that's all it is?" Vi was still looking at him with obvious concern on her face. He figured he'd better convince her before his dad joined them. He'd proably crack under the pressure if both of them insisted on talking about why he was up so early.

"Yeah. Wasn't worth going back to bed after I got up." Drew gestured at the window. "Think they'll call school?"

Vi looked past him out the window. "Probably. At least you won't pass out and sleep through math class." She tousled his hair and went back to the fridge to start breakfast. Snow or not, Mark would be heading out to work. And Glen would probably be there soon to eat before he headed out to help around the ranch.

It was all so normal. And normal seemed to be all he needed to finally shrug off the last remnants of unease from the dream. It didn't take long for the smell of coffee and bacon to fill the kitchen. At some point Vi got an alert on her cellphone. School was canceled due to inclement weather.

"At least one of us gets to sleep in." Vi said, rolling her eyes toward the ceiling. Indicating Josie. Drew smirked at that. Josie didn't seem to be bothered by much of anything. Like her mother, she tended to wear her emotions on her sleeve. When something bothered her, she didn't hesitate to say something. Drew unfortunately had not been brought up the same way. Although he had a feeling that enough time around Vi and Josie and that might change.

"Mornin'." Mark entered the kitchen. He was dressed, dark hair tied back from his face in a braid. He carried his heavy coat and gloves. "Gonna be doing a lot of road clearin' today." He set his coat aside and looked at Drew. "You're up early."

"So people keep telling me." Drew helped himself to the food Vi set out. He hadn't felt hungry until he smelled the bacon and eggs. "No school today."

"Good. You can come help me shovel sidewalks."

Drew would have laughed if his mouth hadn't been full of food. "You don't shovel sidewalks."

"I might today." Mark was a contractor. He supposed if someone wanted to pay his guys to shovel some sidewalks, then they spend the day shoveling. Work was work. There was no shortage of things to be done to keep things running smoothly around town.

There were lights from outside. Glen had finally arrived. Vi went to the kitchen door to let him in.

"It's slick out there." Glen observed, knocking snow off his boots. "Good morning." He accepted a much of coffee with a sigh as it warmed his hands. He hadn't been out in it for long, but it was long enough to get chilled.

"Means we'll be sticking close to the house." Vi observed, tightening her robe around her. "I'm going to take a shower. You be careful out there." She said that to Mark as she bent and kissed him in between bites of food before she left the room.

"What, no Josie?" Glen asked, helping himself to the food.

"Not unless you go wake her up." Drew said with a snicker. Glen poked him in the side making him flinch away.

"It's a little early for the smartassery." Glen said in a serious voice. But he was smiling.

"Never too early." Drew said with a grin. The dream was forgotten finally. So was the weird loss of time he'd experienced. Just sleeping awake. That was all. He figured he would eventually get over it completely.

Vi finished her shower and puzzled over finding Drew in the kitchen earlier. He'd been a thousand miles away, damn near in a trance. She had walked in and had looked at him for a solid two minutes before speaking. And he had looked back without really seeing her. It had shaken her but she managed to hide it.

She would have to mention it to Mark but how exacty would she mention it? She didn't even know what it was. Maybe it was what he had said; he was tired. She knew that he had bad dreams from time to time. Josie still did on occasion although not nearly as often as before. Funny thing was, when Drew had a nightmare she could actually feel it, like the air carried some kind of current. She had gotten that same feeling on summer afternoons when a storm was brewing nearby, the sense that something was on the verge of happening.

And just like with storms, it passed. Vi figured it was part of whatever power Drew was carrying. Mark had said the kids' power was still developing and had explained that his own hadn't really awakened until he was almost 18. She assumed they'd be stumbling over odd things for Josie and Drew for the next few years as they grew into what they were.

It didn't stop her from worrying to herself though. Not about what the kids could do. Vi couldn't stop that if she wanted to. Might as well invent a machine to control the weather. She worried about how the kids were going to handle things. They were both level-headed, mature for their age. But still – teenagers were teenagers. While Vi didn't think they were just a ball of hormones with a hair trigger, she did know that there were going to be some growing pains.

By the time she was dressed, Mark had left for the day. Glen had headed back to the ranch to help Ray and the others get started on their morning chores. Drew had gone back up to his room. Vi went upstairs and could faintly hear the sound of music from Drew's side of the hallway.

The whole house had a different vibe now that Mark and Drew lived there. Safer. Vi figured anybody would feel safe surrounded as she was by powerful people who could do amazing things like shoot fireballs from their fingertips.

According to Mark, Vi should be able to do it too althought to a much weaker extent. They had transferred powers when they had bonded. Vi wasn't sure exactly what Mark had gotten from her, but she had seen for herself what powers he had. And she had no interest in seeing if it actually worked. She had been serious about not wanting any undo help. And that extended to the power that Mark had shared. She had asked if her using the power would effect him, and the question had puzzled him. He didn't know. He didn't think so.

It wasn't good enough. Vi wasn't going to risk pulling something from him that she couldn't put back.

To Mark's credit, he didn't push it. She understood that part of him wanted to. The other part was content to let her be. They balanced. Mark's human side and demon side were more settled, more in tune now than they had ever been. Vi still caught herself thinking of it as two separate beings. It was just Mark. Different aspects of Mark, but still, just one man. One man she had bonded herself to with absolutely no regret or second guessing. The marriage had been more for the sake of paperwork. They were married in everythign but name. During Thanksgiving break they had taken the kids on an impromptu trip to Las Vegas where they had tied the knot. Mark wore a tux. Vi wore a sexy silver gown. Neither of them dressed up and the concierge at the hotel had insisted they make it special. They'd spent the weekend gambling and making love while the kids had been entertained by three concerts and more swimming pools and water parks than either of them had ever seen.

They had celebrated Christmas, and the New Year, and Valentine's day was just the week before. It was hard to believe they had known each other less than a year. They had fallen so perfectly in sync it was almost eerie.

She couldn't decide if that morning's encounter with Drew could be considered their first real bump in the road. Or even if she should worry about it. Which meant of course she was going to worry about it. And she would tell Mark, because she understood that even if Drew didn't know how to approach such a thing with his father, that Mark needed to know what was going on. She knew they were close, but due to their past, there were some things they still did not quite know how to approach with each other. Vi and Josie were working on changing that, albeit mostly through just being themselves. They had always been very open about things. They saw no reason to change now that Mark and Drew were living with them.


	2. Chapter 2

2.

"Oh, my little pretty one...my pretty one. When you gonna give me some time Sharona?" Josie muttered the lyrics to the song under her breath, trying not to laugh. She had actually gotten up when Drew did that morning, if only because she was the closest to him and she'd actually been startled awake when he'd been startled awake by his dream.

It was probably the only downside to what they were, in her humble opinion. Upside? It was way too easy to get songs stuck in Drew's head as a means of payback. It was just after seven and he had been playing a game but now he was trying to doze. Which left him susceptible for some mental torture.

"Knock it off, Josie!" He called from down the hall.

That did make her laugh. "My...my...my...my...my wooo..." She had to at least get the chorus. She heard him stomp up the hallway and he stopped in the doorway to glare at her.

"You're the worst."

"You love it and you know it. Now live with Sharona in your head." It was funny, how easy it had been for the two of them to fall into the roles of brother and sister. They weren't; not really. Just because his dad had married her mom didn't make them blood relatives; for a while Grace and a few others at school were convinced that the two of them were going to be a couple. But it turned out they were best friends. They suited each other. Anything else would just be weird now that they all lived together. "So what was wrong this morning?" She asked, giving up on the song. Drew sighed and came into her room, dropping onto the oversized beanbag chair she used instead of a real chair.

"Stupid nightmares."

"Want to talk about it?" Josie asked. She was laying on her bed with her feet propped on the headboard. She rolled over onto her stomach, ignoring Bridger's huff of annoyance at the shift in the bed. He wasn't inclined to go out in the snow.

"I don't remember them. Not really." Drew was ok talking to Josie. She might not completely understand but she wouldn't unduly worry. Plus Drew really did not want to do anything that might shake up the happiness that their parents had built. He had never seen his dad so happy. He was almost a different person. But not a bad different. He was still iffy on the emotional stuff, and tended to be more listener than talker, but Drew could tell he was changing. And Vi...she worried about them. Quietly, mostly to herself. She sometimes would asked his dad about things involving the kids and their powers, but other than that she could only hope they had as normal a family life as they could.

"They were bad enough to wake both of us up." Josie pointed out.

"You were up?"

"I always wake up when you do. I know you don't think you broadcast, but you do."

"Great." He couldn't help the sarcasm in his voice. What else was he broadcasting in his sleep? Besides nightmares there had been other dreams, some that he would prefer to keep quiet.

Josie was nice enough not to bring it up if she did notice it. "That's three nights in a row. Is it the same every night?"

"Pretty much. As far as I can tell." He frowned. He didn't want to try to remember too much. Forgetting completely would be nice.

"Do you even know it's a dream when you're dreaming it? My mom told me before that she's a lucid dreamer. If she knows she's dreaming, she can control it."

Drew was shaking his head. "It feels real. I don't know I'm sleeping until I wake up."

"Hm." Josie made a low noise in her throat. It made Drew feel better, oddly enough. She was trying to figure out how to help him. "I promise I won't throw songs at you anymore. You can go take your nap."

Drew snickered at that. "Can't now. I have that stupid song stuck in my head. M–m-m-my Sharona. Thanks for that, by the way."

Josie grinned impishly. The past few weeks everyone had noticed that she had been quieter than usual. And that was saying something. Josie was the outgoing one, the one who said what was on her mind. Vi had commented on it one night at dinner and she'd made a joke, but Drew knew something heavy was on Josie's mind. And it was deep, where he couldn't quite get to it. He could probably dig. He was getting better at it. But Josie had already told him she didn't like him prying. The surface stuff, yeah, some of that he couldn't seem to help but pick up. But the deeper thoughts were off limits.

Drew was fine with that. He'd probed deeply into a few people's minds just to test out his power and had regretted it. Ever since their trip to that other realm the year before, Drew's power – which had seem to be weak – had grown by leaps and bounds. He could read people better, and selectively. If he touched someone it came in even clearer. He had the feeling he could manipulate people somehow, through touch and mind control. So his dad was probably right, and he did have a version of the touch. But it was more powerful than even his friend Randy, and he'd had decades to perfect it.

He got up from the beanbag chair – no easy feet, the damn thing was nearly impossible to get out of – and headed back to his own room. He hoped to sleep for at least a couple of hours. Usually he didn't bother. But three days of getting up early and he was done.

Josie rubbed Bridger's head absently, lost in thought. Even though she had gotten up with the same rude awakening, she wasn't feeling like a nap. She should get up and go help around the ranch, which she usually did on snow days and weekends. Or help her mom in the clinic. She knew that Vi would be going out there in a bit. She had appointments that day, and unless they called to cancel, the snow wouldn't stop people from coming in. Her mom's small business had gotten more popular after she'd married Mark. At least that's how it seemed. Maybe they thought they were courting favors. Or maybe they just wanted to support Vi, which seemed like more in the right direction of reasoning. People loved Josie's mom.

Bridger finally got up and stretched languidly before jumping down from her bed with a thump and padding out of the room. Josie got up and followed his lead. He stopped at his food bowl and inhaled it. "Jeez, Bridger. Work on your table manners." Josie muttered under her breath. Vi had put the leftovers from breakfast in the oven. She helped herself to the bacon while she toasted a piece of bread. Josie was only eating because she felt like she had to. She had other things on her mind.

Up until Drew's nightmare had pulled her out of sleep, she'd been having a dream of her own. About her dad. She hadn't dreamed of him in a long time. And while her memories had faded, in the dream he had been clear as day. And it wasn't a nightmare. They had talked. She couldn't remember what exactly they had talked about, but she knew it had been a deep discussion. She got the gist of it. Which was why she had been so quiet the past few weeks. She'd had something on her mind, and her mind had dredged up the image of her dad to give her advice. It was comforting.

She could see her mom through the kitchen window, unlocking the door to the clinic. Mark's truck was gone. And Glen was probably already with Ray, dealing with the cattle. Josie could have gotten up earlier to see them but hadn't wanted to jump into the family thing just yet that morning. It wasn't like her.

Once she was done eating, Josie pulled on her boots and coat, then her gloves. It was cold outside. The air stung her eyes for a moment, making them water. She made her way to the clinic door, grinning at Frank. He was shoveling snow away from the walkway. "I coulda done that." Josie said, zipping her coat against the wind.

"Lucky for you, I thought of it first." Frank gave her a lopsided smile and went back to working. He was one of the younger ranch hands, and always showed up early and stayed late. He did a lot around the clinic too.

Josie kicked snow off her boots before she went through the clinic door. Vi was in the back, cleaning off the small exam table. Apparently at least one of her patients had shown up that morning. Vi looked up and smiled at her. "Mornin'. Finally decide to come out of your room?"

"Yep. Need help?" Josie watched as her mom set out a bag of fluid and what looked like 10 feet of tubing.

"Maybe. I have to start an IV on a puppy. Want to hold him while I do it?"

"Sure." Josie shrugged out of her coat and gloves and watched as her mom went to the kennel and got the small dog out. "Aw. He's precious."

"His name is Teddy." Vi held out the black fuzzball for Josie to cuddle. She watched as her mom expertly shaved away some of the fur on the puppy's leg and poked the needle in. Josie stroked the little guy and made soothing noises. It only took a minute.

"You do that fast." Josie observed, watching as her mom flushed the tubing before attaching it to the IV.

"Have to. Before they get all wiggly and bleed all over everything." Vi grinned. "There. Can you set him up with the warmer? He's been having some issues. We're going to do fluids and IV meds today and see how that goes."

"Sure." The warmer was a large ceramic plate that had a heating element in it. Josie used her free hand to cover it in a blanket, then settled Teddy onto it. She put it on low. The puppy limped in a circle, trying not to use the leg with the bulky IV in it, before laying down and looking up at Josie with sad eyes. "He's killin' me. Look at this cuteness."

"Don't let him kid you. He's a lot tougher than he looks." Vi said with a laugh. She had pulled some medicine into a syringe to inject into one of the ports on the IV line. "So you want to spend the day working in here instead of hanging out with Ray and Glen? That's weird."

"Why is it weird? I like animals."

"Yes, but you hate it when they have to get shots."

"True. But I give the cows shots all the time."

"It's different for the cattle. They aren't pets."

"I _was_ thinking about seeing what Grandpa is up to today." Josie admitted with a laugh. "Besides. Frank is out there shoveling the sidewalk. I think he's hovering just waiting on you to holler for help. Give the kid and break and just hire him on as clinic help."

"I've been thinking about it." Vi said with a smirk. "Fine. Tell Frank to get his booty in here. I've got a couple of ther sick dogs coming in and could use the hand."

"Consider it done." Josie pulled her coat on once more and zipped it. "Do you know when Mark will be home?"

Vi raised an eyebrow. "Lunchtime? I think he said he wasn't staying out too long today."

"Ok." Josie smiled and didn't give her mom time to ask why she wanted to know. Instead she turned and left. She paused long enough to tell Frank that Vi wanted his help. That seemed to brighten up his day. He either loved the work or he was crushing on Vi. Or maybe a combination of the two things. Josie found it funny.

She killed her morning vising her Grandpa. They were doing repairs to one of the older barns. Heavy work. Glen winked at her when he saw her. He was up in the rafters, helping to hold boards while a couple of other ranch hands nailed them in place. Josie wasn't afraid of heights but it made her feel dizzy to look up at them.

At noon the men broke for lunch. Josie trudged through the snow back to the house. Mark's truck was in the driveway next to her Mom's SUV. Vi was still in the vet clinic. She and Frank were in the midst of getting blood on an energetic retriever named Buddy. So Josie went into the house and shed her coat, gloves, hat and boots again. She reached out in her head and 'saw' that Drew was sleeping deeply. Not dreaming. She hadn't joked about him broadcasting. This time she had actually felt for it. When she was sleeping she often got blindsided.

"Hey, Josie. Wanna get Drew up for lunch?" Mark walked into the kitchen. It was still sort of a shock to have him living there. Not a bad shock. She had just gotten used to it being just her and Vi. And Grandpa. And then Glen. She supposed with enough time she could get used to anything.

"I can. But..." Josie hesitated. She thought she was ready for this. "Could I talk to you first?"

Mark raised an eyebrow. "Sure." He sat down at the table and watched as she slid into the chair across from him. "Is something wrong?" He asked it almost cautiously.

"Nope." Drew's nightmares aside, Josie thought things were going great. For all of them. "I just wanted to say I'm glad you're here. And I wanted to ask you something."

"Fire away." Josie could see he was bracing himself. She would have laughed if she hadn't spent so much time agonizing over whether or not to even ask him what she wanted to ask.

"Ok. I just wondered. If it would be all right..." She found herself stopping, hesitating. She hated that. It wasn't how she usually handled stuff. "I just wanted to know if it would bother you a lot if I started calling you Dad." She said it in a rush. And then she waited. She had picked up on some of his habits. And she knew he needed a few minutes to really process what she had asked. He still wasn't used to sharing his emotions, and Josie had seen herself that he was better at showing than telling. He did stuff for all of them. For Valentine's day he had surprised her Mom with a beautiful bracelet and had cooked them all dinner. He'd given Josie a dozen pink roses. He even jokingly referred to them as the ladies in his life. It wasn't just that though. He brought a sense of safety to the house that Josie had never realized had been missing. The gifts were just an added bonus. And he didn't go all crazy with that either. It was little things. He _listened._ If Josie mentioned that she'd like to read a particular book or see a particular movie, odds were good that within a few weeks the book would be laying on her bed, or the movie would be on the coffee table in the living room.

It really must have been a shock because he still looked flummoxed. Under other circumstances, Josie might have laughed. But this had been bugging her for a while.

"I..." Mark cleared his throat. "I think I'd like that. If you're sure."

Josie was nodding. "I can stick with Mark if you don't want..."

"Don't be crazy. We're family." Mark reached over uncertainly and covered her hands with his. Josie hadn't realized she'd been twisting her fingers together nervously. "At least I hope we are. I know I don't always have the right words, never was much good at explainin' where I'm comin' from. But I'd be proud if you wanted to call me Dad."

"Ok. Good." Josie grinned. "Should I attempt to make something for lunch, or do you want to cook and make something edible?"

That broke the tension in the room. Mark grinned at her. "I think I can handle it. I'm thinkin' some five alarm chili sounds good. Course it means waiting an hour for it to cook."

"I can wait for chili. I guess I'll go tell Mom."

"Thanks." Mark got up from the table. Josie grabbed her coat and went without the gloves. She wasn't going too far. She felt like a weight was lifted off of her though. It was weird how it happened to. For a while he had been just Mark. Then she had caught herself almost calling him dad. Than it had happened again. And again. She had figured she should save them both the embarrassment and just ask him if it was all right. It was a relief he was fine with it. She hoped her mom was as accepting.

Frank was in the back, checking on the kennels. Vi was sitting at her desk in the front office, talking on her phone. She looked up as Josie entered and smiled. Josie sat down across from her and waited patiently.

"Lunch will be about an hour." She said when Vi hung up.

"Good. I'm starving."

"I asked Mark if I could call him Dad." It was way easier saying it to Vi than asking Mark. She figured she could guess her mom's reactions a bit better.

"You...what?" Vi raised an eyebrow.

"Well he is now. Kind of."

"Jos..." Vi stopped and shook her head. "Are you ok with that? You aren't doing it because you feel like you have to, right?"

Josie scoffed. "Do I ever do anything just because I have to?"

"Not without a fight." Vi said with a laugh. "I think that's nice. If that's what you want and Mark's ok with it."

"He said he was."

That seemed to surprise Vi again. "Just like that? We must be rubbing off on him. Slowly but surely." She was smilng but something seemed sad as well. Josie hadn't seen her mom sad in a long time. She was also rubbing her side.

"Ribs bothering you?"

Ever since their trouble last fall, Vi occasionally still had sore ribs. Usually if she did too much wrestling around the the animals she cared for. Josie had researched and knew that ribs took a long time to heal. Vi was basically healed up except for exertion soreness. Something that wasn't supposed to happen for at least a full year. No one could figure out why she had healed so fast. Josie had a feeling that Vi had an idea but they couldn't prove anything.

"A little." Vi smiled. The sadness had faded. There and gone. Josie was glad.

"You aren't upset that I want to call Mark dad are you?"

"No. Why would I be?"

"I don't know. It's not that I don't still miss Dad. My dad. But we're a family now, right? And it just feels right. Somehow."

"I know it does, babydoll." Vi got up and grabbed her coat. "I love you to pieces. You know that right?"

"I had a feeling."

"And Mark loves you too. In his own non-verbal way."

"I got that too." Josie said with smirk.

"You kids should get days off school more often. It seems to be agreeing with you." Vi observed. She stopped to tell Frank they were heading into the house. He agreed to stay to keep an eye on the animals. Josie grabbed her Mom's hand and walked beside her to the kitchen door.


	3. Chapter 3

3.

"Slow season. I'm kinda glad." Mark commented later that night. He'd been on the phone, going over scheduling.

"Winter won't last forever." Vi was in the bathroom, braiding her hair so it wouldn't get too tangled in her sleep. She was way overdue for a cut.

"I'm not complaining." Mark said with a smirk. He watched as she came toward the bed. School had already been called off for the next day. The kids were upstairs. Thanks to some quality soundproofing, even the noise of a very involved video game session didn't penetrate their bedroom. "Some of the guys might if they don't get their hours."

"You'll figure it out." Vi tied off her braid and motioned Mark to scoot over so she could get into bed. He did but only a little. She laughed and got in anyway, finding herself right up against him.

They still could not seem to get enough of each other. Mark would jokingly refer to it as bond-strengthening. It was true, their mutual telepathy always seemed to be a little stronger for a few hours after they made love. They could actually exchange words, not just vague feelings. Although Vi wasn't going to put up a fuss over the feelings. As she had pointed out to Josie, Mark was non-verbal mostly because he still didn't know how to put things that he felt into words. Reading him made it so much easier.

"Josie kind of blindsided me today."

Vi laughed at that. "I could tell."

"That kid. I don't have to tell you how great she is."

"It's nice to hear though. She looks up to you." Vi settled more comfortably against him, turning so she was facing him with an arm draped over his waist. "We need to get the kids and figure out this whole power thing. What it is and where it's going."

"You worried about it?" Mark hugged her closer.

"No. Not really." Vi frowned thoughtfully. "I just know what you went through, that's all. I'd rather Drew and Josie didn't have to go through the same. There shouldn't be a need to pick a side."

"I think they understand that way better than I ever did." Mark said softly. It seemed they spent a lot of time talking about the kids, about what they were and how to handle it. Uncharted territory for Vi. Mark had been through it himself but that didn't make him an expert. His life experiences had been unusual and that was putting it mildly.

They were quiet for a few minutes. Mark reached past Vi and shut off the light. The kids might be out of school, and it might be slow season for him, but he still had some things to do the next morning.

"I'm going to talk to Glen about teaching again." Vi mumbled sleepily against his chest. Mark smiled at that.

"He's afraid he'll be good at it." Mark observed.

Vi huffed at the absurdity. Mark was positively compulsive when compared to his younger brother. Glen refused to be rushed into anything. Even if he really wanted it. It was why his relationship with Penelope was still in the early stages. Vi talked to her on occasion. They weren't best friends or anything but they got along. Penelope was harder to get a read on than either of the brothers. She had been raised fully demon, in a demon world. She'd only recently been exploring humanity. She didn't understand human motivation. She had moved to town and was accepted after an initial period of wariness. After last year's mess, people were not nearly as accepting of strangers. It wasn't noticeable to outsiders.

Vi dozed off first. Mark was content to just hold her for a bit, thinking. It was strange, that contentment. He never would have suspected it possible. His demon side was usually single-minded and driven by sexual need. It just proved how in tune Mark had become with Vivian's help, that he could just hold her and enjoy the warmth of her body against his without expecting or needing more. For the moment anyway.

The next morning brought a drop in temperature and ice. Lots of it. The roads were nearly impossible to drive on. Vi didn't bother to open the clinic. She called the appointments she had and rescheduled them. And she called Glen to tell him not to bother coming in.

"It's just ice." Was his response.

"What part of I don't want you driving out here do you not understand?" Vi asked.

"All of it. And I have about a hundred things to do today."

"Nothing that won't keep until tomorrow." Vi pointed out. "Also, we need to talk about this teaching thing..."

Glen groaned. He didn't know why he hesitated when it came to that sort of thing. Maybe because he had no idea where to start. "Vivian, I've told you. I'll figure that out."

"When? You aren't meant to just putter around the ranch, painting fences."

"Obviously I need to talk to Mark about keeping you more occupied." Glen muttered. Vi snorted at that.

"He keeps me plenty occupied. But you still need to think about your future."

"Do you not have enough kids to parent right there at home?" Glen asked. He sounded serious. Vi couldn't help but laugh. They both knew she would keep pushing him.

Josie headed up the driveway. She kept to the grass on the side. It was easier to crunch through the ice-crusted snow on the side of the drive than to try to keep her footing on the slick blacktop. Vi hadn't wanted her to go out at all today. It was cold, but beautiful. She was eventually going to visit with Ray and Rick, who were in the big barn at the bottom of the hill, doing inventory of the equpment. The ranch hands who lived in the bunkhouse were taking care of the cattle.

To be honest Josie needed to get out of the house to practice. She knew she could just tell her Mom that. And Vi would have understood. But for some reason she wanted to keep it to herself. She didn't know why. It just seemed like a private thing, at least for now. She had a feeling Drew could pick up on it, the way he picked up on everyting else. If he had, he didn't say anything. Josie actually figured he would come out and practice with her at some point. His powers were more passive. She wasn't sure exactly how he could exercise them.

Hers were a bit easier. She supposed it would fall under the destructive magic that Glen and Mark both carried. It had started with wind and weather control. Josie could make it snow. Hilariously enough, she could only do it in a very localized area. She had no idea how to make it bigger, or even what purpose it would serve other than being entertaining. The real test would be making it snow in mid-July.

She cut across the field past the memorial garden, glancing at the benches and swing. The garden was dormant. The young trees were covered against the elements. It would be nice to see spring come around and bring everything back to life again.

But that was not where she was going. Not this time. Sometimes she did practice there. She didn't know why. It was just a peaceful spot with one hell of a view of the ranch. Josie didn't want the view this time. The wind would make sitting on the exposed hill too cold to stay out long. She she headed for the treeline on the far side.

There was a small clearning and a spring. Even though it was below freezing, the water was still flowing. There was ice around the edges. Sometimes the ranch hands would take breaks out here. The water was freh and sweet, and perpetually cool. Perfectly fine for drinking. The trees provided decent shade. And ranch noises couldnt't quite reach this far into the trees.

Josie took a seat next to the spring. She ignored the way her butt went numb after a few minutes of sitting on the ice and snow. She was getting better at tuning out little things like that.

For the past few days, Josie had felt the spark of something new. It was like an itch. She could have ignored it. Part of her wanted to. While the wind and water powers had been fun, they were two separate things. From what Josie had figured out, mostly from talking to Randy who seemed to be the only one really willing to actually speak about heir powers, most demons had one base power and other things could branch off of it. Randy had the touch, a form of telepathy. He was an empath. He could read people by touching them, and manipulate them in some ways. Penelope was similar, but stronger. Not diluted by a lifetime of huminization. The half-demons were something else entirely. They could embody different powers but they complimented each other.

Glen had telekinesis. He could manipulate things without touching them, including creating explosions out of nothing. He could also turn it inward and focus on making himself stronger. Mark had fire as a base power. But had had other powers as well – his time in the demon realm, ignoring his human side, meant that his demon powers had changed. He could teleport objects. He could also astral-project himself into people's dreams. It was a coping mechanism that had developed when he'd tried to keep his human and demon halves separate.

Josie supposed wind and water might go together. Maybe she could bundle them together as weather related, since it seemed she has a small bit of control over local conditions. But that odd spark in her head...

It was why she came to the clearing. She had a feeling she knew what was going to happen when she concentrated. So she wanted to do it where no one would see her doing it. She realized she had put a pretty decent sized spotlight on herself after wiping out an entire realm of demons. She still didn't know exactly why she had done it. All she knew for sure was that she was somehow protecting her mother.

There were a few rocks around the spring, marking it. There was also a firepit off to the side. She could see the ring of rocks but ice and snow covered the center.

It didn't matter. Josie focused on it. She was five feet from the circle of rocks. There were 12 rocks. She couldn't be entirely sure but thought she rememered there being a few sticks in the center. Usually the farmhands picked up small twigs or sticks and set them in the pit to use whenever they decided a fire was in order.

Nothing happened.

She actually didn't know _what_ she had thought would happen. She figured possibly the emergence of some kind of fire based power. Which really made no sense. Fire and water didn't go together. But it was still there, whatever it was. Josie sighed and got to her feet, pausing to study the firepit again.

Actually, something had happened. Subtle, and if she hadn't been looking she couldn't have caught it. The rocks were letting off a little steam. The snow and ice around them had melted just a bit. Josie pulled off a glove and walked the short distance, then stooped down and held her hand out. The rocks were warm. More than warm. Almost hot.

Ok. So she hadn't been wrong. She had just been aiming at the wrong spot. Or maybe the snowcover had hindered what she was doing. She was tempted to hunt up some branches and try again, but she hesitated. Unlike the wind and water powers, which were sort of fun, the fire thing scared her a little. Because she had a feeling it could get away from her way too easily.

And maybe she didn't have any sort of fire powers anyway. So she had heated up a few rocks. Maybe it had something to do with the other stuff she could do. That made more sense. Even if it didn't feel like the right answer. Maybe it had more ot do with the energy involved rather than an actual power.

Josie decided not to tempt fate by trying again. Once was enough. She trudged her way back to the drive and headed for the barn to check up on Ray. Another thought struck her as she crunched through the ice. If she had brought Drew out with her, she had no doubt that something else, something more significant, would have happened. He didn't always project a power boost – an odd and until now unheard of thing in the demon world – but Josie could still draw from him. So could Mark. She wasn't sure about Glen, but thought he pobably could too if he wanted to.

Drew could put a lid on it too though. He didn't care, on the few occasions when he and Josie had practice together, when she'd pulled some energy from him. But he could cut it of. It was like pulling a plug out of a wall. They had actually been laughing about it a few days after Christmas, when she was trying to keep a dozen wind-devils going and he kept drawing his power back, making them fade.

She found Ray right where she'd thought he would be. He had a battered clipboard in his hand and was methodically counting gear and marking down items that would need to be replaced or repaired. Josie wasn't entirely sure how he could tell without actually testing the equipment, but he'd always been good at that kind of thing. Maybe it was his power. It still shocked her, even knowing what she knew, that her grandfather was no regular human. And he'd hidden it from them for so long.

Josie had haltingly asked him about it once. And once was all it took. Ray had refused to talk about it. Not that he talked all that much. But she could see him shut down when she asked. It was an obvious sore subject, and from anyone else she would push. Because Josie could be pushy. She knew it, Vi knew it, the town knew it. But for her Grandpa, she immediately backed down. If he wanted to keep playing human, far be it from her to force him to face what they were. She was just extra careful not to use any of her own power around him.

It was weird though. Drew was the mind-reader. Sort of. For lack of a better term. But lately Josie had been able to pick things up from her Grandpa that he didn't verbalize. Jumbled images mostly. She didn't think he was even aware of broadcasting.

Then again, it sort of reminded her of the way she would think of song lyrics to get stuck in Drew's head. Mark had called it white noise. It was what they did to test Drew's ability to read their minds.

Since Josie did it herself, she didn't necessarily think it was strange that Ray would do it too. He just never wanted to talk about it. She wondered if he was bothered now that Vi and Josie knew what they were. He didn't act that way. He was still warm toward them. He'd even welcomed Mark and Drew in with open arms. Maybe because both of them pitched in around the ranch to keep things running smoothly. She wasn't entirely sure.

Ray looked at her and grinned. Her grandpa was nearing on 70 years old. Lately he was looking more his age. It scared Josie. The past summer and fall he had been his usual self, larger than life, indestructable. The winter had proven to be hard on him although Josie did not really understand why. His sun-weathered skin was more wrinkled and he had lost weight. Not a lot but on a thin frame, even a little could make a person look sickly.

Josie forced the thoughts aside and hugged him. "Need some help?"

Ray was nodding his head. He touched her nose with his finger, and pointed up at the loft. Josie grinned. That figured. Ray's hips had been bothering him that winter, he didn't want to climb the ladder to get to the higher level where they stored small items.

"I'm on it." Josie figured the clipboard for the loft was up there, hanging on the wall. She grunted as she climbed the ladder. It was a lot harder in heavy snowboots. The paperwork was hanging next to the switch that controlled the upper level of lights. Even when she turned them on, it was still dim. "Lot of bulbs burned out up here." She called down to Ray. He made a noise in response. Josie dug through a tool box that sat on the floor near the ladder and found a flashlight. She poked around until she found the bulbs. She supposed she'd start by crossing them off the list.

She went to the first burned out light and swapped bulbs, wincing at the light in her eyes. And something hit her.

It wasn't hard. It wasn't even a real physical hit. Josie stumbled and found that she couldn't breathe. From below her came a clattering sound and a thump. She crawled to the edge of the loft and looked down, seeing Ray laying on the floor, convulsing.

"Grandpa!" Josie shouted but the seizure, if that's what it was, kept going. Panicked, she went for the ladder. In her head she was screaming for help. Drew would hear her. She sent mental pictures of what she was seeing.

Unfortunately she forgot about her boots. She lost her footing halfway down the ladder and fell, dropping ten feet. She heard something pop as her ankles took the brunt of her weight. She didn't even feel it. Not yet. Her attention was soley on Ray.


	4. Chapter 4

4.

Vi was in the kitchen at the table, notebook open, scribbling a grocery list when Drew came thundering down the stairs. "Where's the fire?" She called out to him, half-smiling. Until he came to a halt in the kitchen doorway. The look on his face...

"Josie...something's wrong." Drew was shifting his weight from foot to foot, unable to stand still.

Vi was up before he could finish the sentence. She was reaching for her coat that was hanging near the door. Drew was doing the same. "Where is she?"

"Equipment barn." Drew yanked his hat on and was out the door before Vi could do more than sputter.

Vi stepped outside and shut then door. Instead of following her instinct, which said to run after Drew, she hurried to the front of the house. She had a feeling they would need a vehicle. Mark was shoulder deep in the engine of his truck. As cold as it was, he didn't want to waste the whole morning being lazy so he was doing a bit of maintenance.

He looked up as soon as Vi approached, frown on his face. "What is it?"

"Something with Josie. At the barn." She was pulling her keys out of her pocket and sliding into the driver's seat of her SUV even as she spoke. Mark got into the passenger seat, concern on his face.

"Drew?"

"Running that way." Vi turned the key and switched on the four-wheel-drive. Worthless on the paved driveway that was still coated with ice, but she had no plan to stick to the drive. It was faster overland anyway. Drew had already disappeared, not paying any mind to the ice. "He's fast." She observed. She wasn't panicking. Not yet. Because Josie could take care of herself mainly. She'd proven in. And the entire county knew not to mess with her. According to Mark, it was beyond just their little slice of the world. It extended to realms beyond the human one. They were under some sort of protection as well, although Vi had not understood that part of things. Mark hadn't wanted to go into it. And she hadn't pushed him. It had something to do with what had happened in the fall and where he had taken the man who had hurt her. And that was good enough for Vi.

"When he wants to be." Mark's voice was calm. He could see the barn up ahead, stark black against the white snow. And Drew was going in the doors. No danger evident. Mark didn't sense it, neither did Drew. Just something wrong. Normal wrong not demon-attack wrong.

Vi brought the SUV to a halt, sliding a bit on the ice, mindless to it. Drew was coming out of the barn door, pale, face serious.

"We need an ambulance!" He called out before ducking back inside. Mark and Vi shared a look. She fumbled her cell phone out of her pocket while Mark hurried into the barn.

Josie seemed fine. That was the first thing that he noted. She was sitting on the floor, trying to cradle Ray's head to keep it from hitting the floor. He was having a convulsion. A bad one. Mark wasn't an expert, but he'd seen a few seizures and this one was no mere little tremor. "Drew..." Mark got down on the floor, looking over his shoulder at his son. "We can get him into town faster than an ambulance can get to us." Mark turned to look at Josie. She was even paler than Drew, tears streaming down her face as she worried soothed Ray's white hair back from his forehead. "What happened?"

Josie shook her head. "I don't know. I was up there." She looked up at the loft. "He just went down." Her voice caught on a sob.

They could hear Vi approaching, talking on her cell phone. "I don't know let me..." When she laid eyes on Ray, she stopped talking. Then she kicked into gear. "Drew...get my bag out of the truck. Here..." She pushed the phone into Mark's hand and practically pushed him aside so she could kneel down next across from Josie. "Ray?" Vi raised her voice as she laid her hands on him. He was still shaking. His eyes were rolled back so far she could only see the white. "How long?" She aimed that at Josie.

"At least a couple of minutes. I don't know." Josie was rocking a little, trying to soothe herself as well as her grandfather.

"Here." Drew had returned with the emergency kit Vi kept stocked in her SUV. She knew she was just a vet, and people medicine was really not her area of expertise, but she had some anti-seizure meds in her kit. She would just need to adjust the dose for Ray's weight.

She fumbled through the bag for a needle and the vial. It only took a few seconds to fill the syringe. "Hold his arm..." That was aimed at Mark. He did, feeling the way the older man seemed to have an electric current running through him. Vi swabbed Ray's arm and poked the hypodermic into his skin, finding the vein, going on instinct. It would take a few minutes. Once she had injected the medication, she tossed the needle aside and pressed her fingers against his arm, stopping it from bleeding. She also laid her hand on his neck, feeling his rapid-fire pulse against her fingertips.

The seizure finally let go after an agonizing 30 seconds. Ray's body went limp and he heaved in a breath, then another. His pulse slowed. But it seemed wrong, somehow. Almost as if there were an echo. It made no sense. She had never felt anything like it. She pulled out her stethescope from the bag and listened to his heart. And it was there too. An odd double beat. Ray had never said anything about a heart murmur.

"We've got to get him to the clinic." Vi said softly. She was leery of moving him but it wouldn't do him any good to lay on the cold barn floor. Especially since she doubted the ambulance that she had been trying to call probably wouldn't be able to get to them. "Call Jess. Tell her we're bringing him in." She aimed that at Mark, who still had her phone. Vi was digging in her bag again, unsure if she had anything else that might help Ray. She pulled up another dose of anti-seizure meds just in case she needed it and moved out the way so Mark could pick up the older man. It surprised her, how easily he lifted Ray up.

Josie watched as Mark carried her grandfather out to he SUV. She didn't move. Vi quickly repacked her bag. "You riding with us or staying?"

"I think I'd better ride with." Josie still hadn't moved. Mark had come back into the barn, wondering what the holdup was. "I can't walk. I fell off the ladder, hurt my ankle." Now that help had arrived, she could feel the dull throb coming from her leg. And she was sitting on it. She tried to shift and could only hiss in pain when she moved her leg.

"I got ya." Mark went to her and lifted her as easily as he had lifted Ray. Josie's face paled even more but she didn't make a sound. Reaction was setting in. He put Josie in the passenger seat before turning to Vi, who was buckling her seat belt. Drew had climbed in and was sitting with Ray's head on his lap, watching him carefully to make sure he didn't have another convulsion. "You go ahead. And be careful. I'll be right behind you."

Vi nodded grimly. "Got it." She looked worriedly at Josie, who was leaning her head back against the seat with her eyes closed. Then she swung the SUV around and began the task of heading for the road.

It was slow going. She hadn't been wrong about ice on blacktop. Even though some of the ice had melted, the roads were still a mess. She kept an eye on Drew in the rearview mirror. He remained calm throughout the trip. Josie groaned at a few bumps in the road. Vi felt like she was being pulled in about 8 different directions.

They nearly slid off the road twice, then Vi gave up and drove on the shoulder. At least it was flat. The blacktop was too slick. It worked until they got near town, when the sidewalks and mailboxes were more prevalant. In town the salt trucks and snow plows had been out and the roads were marginally better.

Vi pulled right up to the main entrance of the clinic. Jess was there waiting, with a couple of nurses and a gurney. Mark parked nearby and helped get Ray onto the gurney since he had no trouble manuevring him. And then he went to the front passenger seat and picked Josie up again.

"I think I can walk. Or maybe limp to the exam room." Josie protested.

"Lucky for you, you don't have to." Mark said with a smirk. Since Jess was in with Vi and Ray, Dr. Ridgeway was waiting for Josie. He gestured them into one of the empty exam rooms.

"Josie Peace. I don't tihnk I've seen you since you were in third grade." Ridgeway commented, opening up her chart.

"You got lucky." Josie deadpanned. She was still pale. After the car ride her entire leg was throbbing.

"So what happened?" Mark asked her.

"I was up in the loft. Grandpa asked me to count stuff. When I got up there..." Josie frowned. "I don't know. I heard him drop his clipboard and then I heard him fall down. And then I lost my footing on the ladder on the way and landed weird."

Mark frowned at her hesitation. She was holding something back. He made a mental note to grill her on it later. Ridgeway extrended the table and had Josie lay down with her feet up. He got Mark to take her boot off. It was the only time Josie made a noise, and it was a wimper of pain.

"And you heard it pop?" Ridgeway gently felt his way around her foot, her ankle, and leg. He gauged her reaction each time he pressed in.

"Yeah." Josie hissed in a breath.

"Possible a fracture. Maybe just a dislocation. We'll need to do an x-ray." Ridgeway looked from Josie to Mark, then back again. "Can you heal it at all?"

Josie frowned deeply. She hadn't even considered that. She knew from Glen and Mark that they all had some sort of fast healing power. But her leg still hurt and throbbed. And was visibly swollen and discolored now that her boot was off. "No dice. At least I don't think so."

"Well. It was worth asking." Ridgeway smiled. "I'll go get the equipment ready. Be back in a few minutes." He nodded to Mark and left the room.

"Can you check on Grandpa?" Josie asked Mark. He nodded.

"I will. Once we get you situated."

"I'm fine. Just worried. It's not good, is it? To have a seizure that lasts that long?"

Mark reached over and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I really don't know, Jos. Your mom is gonna stay with him. She'll let us know."

Josie nodded. But still worried. She had never been so sscared in her life, including the time spent in that other realm when she had been picking up on her mother's pain. She didn't know what she would do without her grandfather.

Drew stood in the corner, watching as Jess ordered the two nurses around. Vi hovered. She at least knew what they were talking about as they spoke back and forth over Ray's still form. He was in awe of the efficiency. He'd been lucky to avoid emergency visits like this.

He'd been especially impressed with Vivian. She had kept her calm, had done what she could for Ray, and had gotten them into town safely. He wondered idly why she hadn't gone into medicine. People medicine. He had the feeling she would have been great at it. It made him think that maybe he would look into the medical field. He'd had no other real plans in place. And it seemed like something that might go along with the powers that he had at his disposal.

Jess got Ray stabalized. "We'll have to do an EKG. Maybe an EEG. Can't rule out another stroke." She wore a troubled frown on her face. "Especially with the convulsions."

"I knew he wasn't feeling well." Vi said softly, brushing Ray's hair back from his forehead. "He's lost weight."

"We'll weigh him later. We can do some high calorie liquids through a feeding tube. He might have a touch of pneumonia as well." Jess said, using her own stethescope to listen to Ray's lungs, his heart. "I don't hear a murmur though."

"It was there." Vi said, watching as Jess continued her exam. "Weirdest thing I ever heard."

"Could mean it was a cardiac incident. Tachycardia. Like I said, we'll run some tests." Jess sighed and pulled the stethescope from her ears. She sent one of the nurses out to get the machinery they would need. "It's going to take a little time. Do you want to check on Josie? She's with Dr. Ridgeway."

Vi nodded. Then she glanced in Drew's direction. "Drew, would you mind staying with Ray for a few minutes? I don't want him to be by himself if he wakes up."

"Sure. It's fine." Drew moved toward the bed. He had only known Ray since he and Josie started hanging out, but he knew how much the man meant to her. And to Vi. He wished there was something he could do.

Drew pulled up a chair and sat down beside Ray, looking at the monitor that beeped softly behind him. Jess had started an IV. Other than the machine noises, and the soft sound of Ray breathing, the room was quiet.

Too quiet really. There should have been noise from the hall. It was weird. Like they were in side a bubble. And Drew realized that Ray's eyes were open and he was looking at him.

Except it wasn't Ray.

The man he saw was much younger. No wrinkles other than small ones near his blue eyes. All of the white hair had been replaced by a sandy blonde shade.

He groped outward for Drew's hand. And Drew took it, too stunned to do more than that.

"I can't hold on to this body anymore." When Ray – or the person who had been Ray – spoke, even the voice was different. Younger. "You take care of her."

Drew frowned. "Josie?" Ray-not-Ray nodded painfully. "You're her dad, aren't you?" It finally struck him. He'd seen pictures of Link. He and Josie had talked about him a few times over the past year. He had died. But somehow here he was. Inhabiting Ray's body.

The hand Drew was holding went slack. He blinked and Ray was just Ray again. Only Ray was no longer breathing. He had slipped away. The monitor attached to leads on his chest started beeping. Not flatlining as he had seen on television about a million time, but beeping rapidly.

The door opened behind him. "Get the crash cart!" Jess appeared next to Drew, easing him out of the way. Drew went willingly enough, letting go of Ray's hand. He could have told Jess it was a waste of energy, trying to bring Ray back. He was gone.

He went out into the hallway. Vi was coming his way. She took one look at his face and knew, just like that. It didn't take any sort of power on her part. She was good at reading people. She stopped and laid a hand on his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. "Go on down with your dad. Thanks for staying with him." Her voice was sad but steady. Drew hesitated and watched as she went into the room and shared a look with Jess. Jess stopped doing chest compressions. They didn't even need to speak to each other. They just knew it was time.


	5. Chapter 5

5.

It was nearly a week before the weather cleared enough for Ray's funeral.

It was a tense week for all of them. Josie was learning to get around on her cast. She'd fractured her ankle. She didn't so much care about that as she did about losing her grandfather. She had been _right there_ and should have done something to help him. She couldn't for the life of her figure out what though. Jess and the nurses agreed it was most likely another stroke that had done it. Given his recent weight loss and the fading that had seemed to happen over the winter, they were not very surprised.

Vi held herself together surprisingly well. Putting forth a brave face for Josie mostly, but it was odd how at peace she was. She'd loved Ray like the father figure he had been but he was finally with his Rose. She found comfort in that.

Drew was troubled. Not by Ray's passing so much. He had liked the man and had considered him a part of their extended family but he didn't know him as well as everyone else. It had been the last bit, where Josie's father had seemed to be on the exam table, that bothered him. He knew he could not talk to Josie or Vi about it. And maybe not his Dad becaue he and Vi were connected by the bond they shared and she might pick up on it. So he figured Glen. Or most likely Randy might have answers.

It was after the funeral. Josie had bemoaned being carried by Mark again. There was still snow on the ground at the cemetery, and she wasn't supposed to get her cast wet. There was a memorial near the cemetery, where most of the town turned out to pay their respects. It had been a rough day. Vi was just glad it was over.

And that was mostly because she had been feeling strange the past few days. She wasn't sick, nothing was wrong. She was sad of course. Losing Ray was like losing another piece of her past. But it went beyond that. Something just seemed off. Mark had asked her a few times what was going on but Vi could only shake her head. She didn't understand it, therefore she couldn't put it into words to make him understand it.

Rick was still running the ranch, since he had been the manager and had worked so closely with Ray. Josie knew that he was counting on her to take things over. Vi knew that Josie was feeling the pressure of having the running of the ranch hanging over her head. She loved the place, and had always known it woud belong to her someday, but in her mind that day had been far into the future.

"She'll be all right." Mark said softly. He and Vi were sitting at the kitchen table, eating. Or rather he was eating. She was just picking at the sandwich she had made for herself.

"I know." Vi still forgot that sometimes some of her thoughts could be picked up. By Mark and to a lesser extent by Drew. "It's just putting a lot on her shoulders." Vi said. She pushed her mostly untouched food aside.

"And she can handle it. Nobody is saying she has to start running things _today_. And if she decides to shut down the ranch part of it, and do something else, everybody would understand. She's got options."

"I don't see her doing that." Vi said with a frown as she propped her chin on her fist. "She loves this place. She wouldn't put that many people out of work. Plus – it's her connection to Link's family. She wouldn't just cut that particular cord."

"Well then, we'll just have to help her out. Starting by letting Rick do his thing and picking someone to train to take his place when he retires. He's the same age that Ray was." Mark pointed out. "So I don't suspect he'll be doing this work for too much longer. We'll surround her with people who will support her. And she'll do fine."

"You're being awfully talkative today." Vi narrowed her eyes at him.

"I don't know what's gotten into me lately." Mark admitted with a smile.

Vi nodded and smiled back. Josie would always be her priority but she had never felt for anyone the way she did for Mark. It was deep. And complicated. And challenging. Mark reached across the table and took her free hand, pulling it to his mouth to drop a kiss on her palm. It sent a pleasant shiver up her arm.

"You need to eat. You didn't eat much yesterday either." Mark pointed out. She hadn't thought he'd noticed. They had all been busy in their own way.

"I will." She picked up a chip and nibbled at it. Mark raised an eyebrow but knew better than to push the issue.

Winter finally gave way to spring. Time passed. Josie's heavy cast got traded for a boot. She was her normal self but also somehow subdued. Vi couldn't figure out how to help her. If asked about her morose attitude, Josie would seem surprised and then would make a joke. Typical Josie.

It was Drew who resolved it. Mostly because he could read Josie so well when she wasn't actively blocking him. It was Saturday. The sun was out and the temps were just starting to reach the fifties. He was waiting for Glen to pick him up so they could spend some uncle-nephew time together. And it came to him. So instead of waiting on the porch like he usually did, Drew meandered down the driveway and made a beeline for the clearing. Josie had said she went there to practice sometimes. And sure enough, she was there, sitting near the spring.

"Hey." He said as he cleared the treeline, trying not to scare her.

But Josie had either heard or sensed him coming. Or maybe it was a combination of both. "Hey." She had a small stick in her hand and was using it to draw shapes in the bare earth beside the spring.

"Glen'll be here in a minute. Do you want to come with us?" Sometimes he forgot that Josie had been closer to Glen than most of them at one point.

"I don't think so." Josie resituated her booted foot. It didn't hurt and the boot was a pain to put on and walk in. But she managed. She could be single-minded sometimes.

"Look." Drew dropped down beside her. "I know you feel bad about your grandpa but it wasn't your fault. There wasn't anything anybody could do for him." From his time living with Vi and Josie, Drew had picked up the habit of sometimes being blunt. Not all the time. Some things demanded more tact. But he knew it annoyed Josie when he beat around the bush. So on some things it just made more sense to come right out with it.

"I know that. Up here." Josie tapped her forehead. "Doesn't make me feel any better." Although she sounded on the verge of tears, when she looked at Drew, her blue eyes were clear. "Did he say anything before he passed? You were there with him."

Drew nodded. "He said to take care of you." He had marveled over that a bit. Because he had been there long enough to know that Ray did not talk much, and never in full sentences. Usually a word here or there, and often it was slurred or hard to understand because of his stroke. But he had talked to Drew. Had in fact been clear as day, with no slurring, no struggle. It was something else that had stuck with him that he'd kept to himself.

Josie smiled at that. "Of course he did." She tossed the stick aside. "If you think Glen won't care..."

"You know he won't. And he's your uncle now too, you know." Drew pointed out. It made her smile more naturally. It was good to see. There hadn't been a whole lot of that around the house lately. "Come on. He'll be here soon." He gave her a hand up, catching her when she stumbled. "It would be good if you didn't break the other leg in the process of healing this one." Drew pointed out.

Josie rolled her eyes at that and chose to ignore it. "I need to start working on my powers. The healing stuff especially."

"If you even have it." Drew said softly.

"I thougth all demons had it in some form or another."

"We're not like all the others." Drew said with a shrug. They made it to the driveway and he could see Glen's truck sitting next to Vi's clinic. He was talking to Vi in the doorway when he spotted the kids heading his direction.

"About time. I was gonna just leave you here." Glen said, ruffling Drew's hair and giving Josie a hug.

"Josie wants to come with us." Drew pointed out.

"That's fine. Are you staying tonight?" Glen asked, aiming it at the two of them.

Something passed between them and Josie shrugged and looked to her mother. Vi help up her hand. "Up to you. I've got no big plans. You're free to go do what you want within reason."

"I just need to throw some stuff in a bag." Josie headed for the house. Drew followed to grab his own overnight bag.

Vi was looking at Glen thoughtfully. "You don't have to keep them overnight. It's awful nice of you to offer though."

"I know I don't have to. But I like having them around. House gets too quiet sometimes." It was the closest he would come to admitting he was kind of lonely.

"Still not moving forward with Penelope?"

"Not for lack of trying. I don't know what the problem is." Glen said with a tired sigh.

"Maybe she's too much demon." Vi said with a shrug. It made Glen raise an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"Well. You told me about your Anise. And how she was a demon that acted human. So maybe Penelope is just too demon. She doesn't really know how to act human. Enough time and she'll get there."

"Hopefully." Glen said. "Maybe my expectations are just too high. I should lower my standards."

Vi smirked at that. "You won't." 

"I know it." Drew and Josie were coming out the front door of the house. "You and Mark have fun."

"We usually do." Vi said with a laugh. She kissed Josie and gave Drew a hug and watched them pile into Glen's truck and head out. She went into her office and got back to sorting out her equipment, which is what she had been doing when Glen had pulled in.

Just like she had noted in the time around Ray's funeral, there was a feeling of something being _off_. It came and went with no rhyme or reason. Usually she was fine,

then she'd have a few hours where something just wan't _right_. She knew it had to have something to do with picking up on everyone else's emotions or thoughts. She was still trying to get a handle on it. It wasn't all bad of course. She and Mark literally shared a wavelength, which honestly stopped arguments before they could happen. It was easier to see the other person's point of view when they didn't have to put it into words.

The things they had been through over the past year had made it easier to transition into being one big happy family. It had almost been a little too easy, which at first had worried Vi. And then Mark had pointed out that they were both way overdue for things to go right for a while. Which made sense. They'd both spent years suffering losses. Now they were whole again.

Almost as if her thoughts had conjured him up, she heard Mark enter the office behind her. She didn't have to look. The other good thing about their connection was that she could sense him whenever he was near. It made sneaking up on each other impossible.

"Kids leave? House is awful quiet." Mark said, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around Vi's waist.

"Yup. Glen is going to keep them tonight." Vi smiled finished filling the portable cart she had been working on. Mostly with syringes and needles, gauze and alcohol wipes. She went through a lot of them recently.

"Hm..." Mark ducked his head to nuzzle her neck, making her grin. She felt his hand slip under the front of her shirt and against her belly, going up.

"You know, we could go in the house." She said, before he could get too carried away. The office door was wide open behind them after all.

"We could." Mark agreed. And kept sucking lightly on the skin of her neck. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Vi finally gave up on trying to finish what she was doing. That weird feeling was on her again. She turned in his arms and looked up into Mark's green eyes, resting her hands on his shoulders. She really was fine. The undefinable feeling didn't mean she was sick.

"then what are you worrying about?" Mark lowered his head and rested his forehead against hers. "I can feel it. Even if I can't see it."

"I'm not _worried_. Other than about the usual stuff." Vi slid her hands along his shoulders, up his neck, until she was cupping his face.

"It's that weird thing again, right?" Try as he might, Mark hadn't been able to figure it out either. Neither had Drew.

"Yup." She knew better than to hide it. She had tried but he had figured it out. The strange thing was – he could share her emotions. If she was happy, he was happy. If she was sad, he was sad. But this seemed to be something that Vi could only feel on her own.

Mark was tempted to write it off as a fluke, a weird glitch in their power. But he knew without fully forming the thought that it would be a mistake. It seemed harmless. Maybe a bit of leftover anxiety over things going so well for them. He knew better than to ignore it. "Maybe we can ask Randy, see if he can figure it out?" He made it a question.

"He still can't read me, remember?" Vi pointed out. Drew could. Most of the time. At least the stuff on top of her mind. To Randy she was still a blank. They thought maybe that was due to Mark's demon side protecting her from outside influences. If it was, the power was passive. Mark didn't feel that he was actively shutting her off.

"It was an idea anyway." Mark said wryly. "Now we've gotten all sidetracked. And all I wanted was a quickie in your office."

Vi snickered at that. She wasn't adverse to the occasional quickie. "But we have the whole house to ourselves, remember?"

"Oh yeah." Mark grinned and kissed her breathless. "Better go before somebody realizes they've left us to entertain ourselves." He said when he finally pulled back. He took her hand and led the way out of the clinic toward the front door.

~~T~~T~~T~~

Drew waited Glen out. Much like his dad, his uncle would take his sweet time thinking things over before offering his opinion. He had waited until Josie was distracted – she had taken off the boot, and was swimming in the pool. Drew thought she was probably nuts to do so – the pool was heated but was still cold. She didn't seem to care.

So since he had his uncle to himslf, Drew had spilled everything. From the odd nightmares that he still couldn't remember fully, to what he had seen when Ray had passed away. It was like a weight lifted off of his chest.

"Are you sure they _are_ dreams?" When Glen finally spoke, that was the first question. It made Drew frown.

"I'm asleep when it happens. What else would it be?" Although he didn't have the dream nightly anymore, he still had it at least once a week. There was no reason, no certain trigger. He still could only remember the vaguestest of details. It seemed real when it was happening but faded as soon as he woke up.

"I don't know." But Glen didn't sound sure. "Might be a warning of some kind."

"A warning of what?" Drew asked.

"I don't know. Your brain does crazy things when you're sleeping." There was no certainty in Glen's voice though. Even he didn't believe it was just some subconscious thing. "As for the other thing..."

"Ray."

Glen nodded. "That's not anything I've ever heard of. But we know that Ray was a demon of some kind, and he never wanted to talk about his powers. Maybe he conjured up Link as he was dying?" He made it a question.

Drew was shaking his head. "That's not what it felt like."

"What did it feel like?"

"Like Josie's dad was there." Drew rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. Trying to figure out the full nature of his powers usually did that to him. "The same way I know that _my_ dad is there."

"Well, kiddo. I'm not doubting you saw it. But I'm at a loss as to exactly what the hell it was." Glen picked up the glass of tea he had been drinking before Drew had launched into his explaination. All of his ice had melted, so it was a watered-down mess, but he drank it anyway. "I can't say I'm surprised about it either. And you were right not to tell Josie or Vivian. It's one thing too many. At least until we figure it out."

"More worthless powers." Drew muttered.

"Not worthless. Just gotta figure out how to use 'em." Glen smiled grimly. "Josie and Vivian keep pushing me to teach stuff. Maybe this is the kick in the ass I need. Although I don't know what I could possibly teach either of you that you can't figure out on your own. You seem to be managing just fine without my help."

"I have no clue what I'm doing." Drew shook his head. "And Josie..." He hesitated. Because he loved her and he didn't want to betray her. But he felt like it needed to be said. "Josie needs guidance. She's figuring stuff out on her own but it might be too much, too fast."

Glen nodded slowly. He knew where the kid was coming from. Too much power too fast could cause a lot of issues. And they all knew Josie's powers were special somehow, even moreso than his or Mark's. Maybe because her power seemed so damned limitless. It was something to think consider as they sat in companioble silence, contemplating their own thoughts.


End file.
